Sideboard


This deck aims to control, and outvalue your oponent primarily utilizing the card Gifts Ungiven for a more detailed decription continue reading below.

NOTE : I would like to add another land to the main. Because there is no real card draw I think 25 lands is where the deck wants to be, a suggestion of a card to cut would be appreciate.

4 Color Gifts

Because it's sweet. Some things to know about this deck :

  1. It's a hard deck to play, it will take time to get used to. There will be games you lose because you cast Gifts Ungiven for the wrong cards, then realize after the game how you could have won. but challenging decks are very rewarding, they make you a better player, and they allow you access to some powerful interactions most decks do not have.

  2. The deck can be customized to your liking. I personally prefer a more controlling build, but if you prefer more of a grindy creature matchup some suggestions would be Grim Flayer , Knight of the Reliquary, and Eternal Witness.

  3. Do you like giving your oponent a headache? If so try casting a value Gifts Ungiven. I've had oponents split the pile 4 times before being okay with their choice. The best part about Gifts Ungiven is your oponent feels so far behind no matter what they give you.

  4. Building a toolbox deck to have answers for a multitude of situations is really fun. This deck can beat any deck you want it to. It just takes going to gatherer and finding 3-4 cards which hose that matchup. Cast Gifts Ungiven and tada your opponent has been wrecked.
With any control deck the goal is to survive the early game, and win by having a superior end game plan. Whether that be from card advantage, a combo kill, or locking your oponent out of the game. This deck to some extent can do a variety of these based on the deck you are playing against.
Early on this deck aims to use its hand disruption in combination with its removal spells to survive the first few turns. After determining what deck your oponent is playing you have to decide which win condition is best to close the game out. This is where Gifts Ungiven comes into play. usually after resolving a Gifts Ungiven the game should be to your advantage. these decks can be customized to have win conditions tailored to the meta you are playing in, so in general after Unburial Rites has been cast, or you are grinding your oponent out with Life from the Loam the game should be pretty locked up. If there isnt a clean simple way to kill your oppenent go for a more value based gameplan using Lingering Souls, Liliana of the Veil, and Thragtusk these spells are meant to eat up multiple cards from your oponent forcing them to fall behind.
  1. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite : She is a beating against small creature decks. One of the best reanimation targets available.

  2. Iona, Shield of Emeria : She hoses mono-colored, and many two-colored decks to the point where they can no longer function once she is on the battlefield. In some metagame's she may be better in the sideboard.

  3. Sigarda, Host of Herons : This is our hexproof win condition, I chose her over Thrun, the Last Troll because being a 5/5 she matches up better against Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and Siege Rhino. She also cannot be killed by Liliana of the Veil which is additional upside. Normally she is hardcast instead of Unburial Rites however either option works.

  4. Snapcaster Mage : One of the creatures available, one consideration would be to take one out to be replaced with Eternal Witness

  5. Thragtusk : One of the best value creatures we have access to, he trades with most creatures in the format after gaining life, and leaves behind a token for later use. The major reason I chose Thragtusk is even if an opponent Path to Exile him you still get the life and the token. Like with Sigarda, Host of Herons this is usually hardcast.
  1. Gifts Ungiven : The engine of this deck, can provide card advantage or a combo to kill the oponent quickly.

  2. Abrupt Decay : Uncounterable removal which also can be used to kill Ensnaring Bridge, Blood Moon, and Crucible of Worlds

  3. Damnation + Wrath of God + Supreme Verdict : the wraths of this deck, run one of each to synergize with Gifts Ungiven

  4. Fatal Push : a cheap removal spell which can hit most creatures in the format.

  5. Inquisition of Kozilek : Due to being a 4-color deck, our manabase deals a relatively high amount of damage, so Inquisition of Kozilek usually is better than Thoughtseize, but I may try a split.

  6. Life from the Loam : the other card advantage engine in the deck, ensures land drops, and can grind out opponents using Tectonic Edge, cycle lands, and manlands.

  7. Lingering Souls : one of the best cards in the deck, it does so much. It can win the game by attacking, and stall by blocking, and it can cast it from the graveyard which synergizes with Gifts Ungiven and Life from the Loam.

  8. Logic Knot : the only hardcounter in the deck, typically there will be enough junk in the graveyard to delve for more than they can pay.

  9. Maelstrom Pulse : more expensive version of Abrupt Decay, but not limited to low cmc cards, and can wipe multiples.

  10. Mana Leak : Cheap efficient early game counter. Use this to protect a Gifts Ungiven vs control, or counter threats vs aggro/midrange

  11. Path to Exile : The king of one mana removal. Generlly try to use this later in the game when the extra land is less impactful

  12. Raven's Crime : The other half of the Life from the Loam combo. This card helps grind out control mirrors.

  13. Unburial Rites : Reanimation spell for our giant creatures.
  • Liliana of the Veil : One of the best planeswalkers in modern she's removal, anti-control, and a threat that must be dealt with. One of the best cards in the deck.
    1. Abrupt Decay : Bring in primarily vs Blood Moon / Ensnaring Bridge decks, one of these should probably be another copy of Maelstrom Pulse

    2. Baneslayer Angel : Great against removal light decks, and burn.

    3. Collective Brutality : this card is really flexible, if you prefer it in the main swapping the Life from the Loam + Raven's Crime combo for these is reasonable. This can be brought in against a variety of decks for the Disfigure or Duress effects.

    4. Empyrial Archangel : This may not be necessary anymore, she was the backup to Iona, Shield of Emeria for burn based matchups, but now that tragtusk and Baneslayer Angel are in the 75 this slot may not be needed. She is very powerful, but could be redundant. I'll test some with her in the next few weeks.

    5. extripate + Surgical Extraction + Ravenous Trap : Graveyard hate Gifts Ungiven package.

    6. Negate : Cheap counterspell for combo/control. great for defending Gifts Ungiven.

    7. Stony Silence : Great against Lantern Control, Tezzeret Prison, and Affinity.

    8. Terastodon : Our Unburial Rites target against Tron, Lantern Control, and other Prison based decks.

    1. Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Iona, Shield of Emeria

    2. If Liliana of the Veil is in play : Lingering Souls or land or Raven's Crime + Life from the Loam + Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Iona, Shield of Emeria
    These are the basic reanimation packages. The second package requires a discard outlet as most likely you will be given the creature, Liliana of the Veil +1 to discard the creature then reanimate. These packages are best vs creature decks with little interaction, and mono-colored decks. Be careful and play around Path to Exile. Sometimes Sigarda, Host of Herons is the ideal choice for a finisher if the opponent is out of on-board threats.
    1. Life from the Loam + Raven's Crime + Ghost Quarter or Tectonic Edge + Value Land or Lingering Souls
    This package is generally used in grind based matchups i.e. Tron/Control. If the game is going to go long this is generally where you want to be. The main synergy with this package of cards is that Life from the Loam can get back any lands you throw into the graveyard. Raven's Crime can be cast from the graveyard to keep your opponent empty handed while Tectonic Edge slowly reduces their manabase. Please note that the addition of the two cycle lands i.e. Fetid pool are amazing with this engine.
    1. Wrath Damnation + Wrath of God + Supreme Verdict + Card of your choice.

      This package guarantees at least one wrath. Some cards I've chosen as my 4th, Snapcaster Mage for an additional wrath, Gifts Ungiven this card usually results in getting two wraths, Life from the Loam if there are value lands in the graveyard, Lingering Souls this is value regardless of the pile, Liliana of the Veil usually gets two wraths in hand, Maelstrom Pulse adds good targeted removal to the pile.

    2. Spot A combination of Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, Path to Exile, Maelstrom Pulse,and Snapcaster Mage.

      This combination will result in obtaining answers for your oponent's next two threats. I generally use something like this to pull ahead in the midgame when a reanimation package will not close the game instantly. NOTE Your oponent will usually view Snapcaster Mage as one of the spells you choose, but do remember if they give you snapcaster you can always flashback Gifts Ungiven.
    This is where it gets really complicated, as these packages are not concrete, and they will change based on the current game you are in. I'll just mention a few I've used in the past and talk about them a little.
    1. Thragtusk + Lingering Souls + Snapcaster Mage + Gifts Ungiven

      This package will usually result in Thragtusk + Lingering Souls in hand, which I like for when I have removal in hand, and need a threat to cast.

    2. Liliana of the Veil + Gifts Ungiven + Snapcaster Mage + Lingering Souls

      This package is great because the oponent is pretty screwed no matter what they give you. Generally you will not be getting Liliana of the Veil, but beware of using this package agaisnst decks because of Abrupt Decay we do not have many targets for this spell so in game 1 it will likely be in their hand.

    3. Thragtusk + Sigarda, Host of Herons + Snapcaster Mage + Gifts Ungiven

      This package is good when a threat is needed. Snapcaster Mage + Gifts Ungiven represents the Unburial Rites combo, so many oponents will be wary to give one of these. Luckily for us Thragtusk and Sigarda, Host of Herons are very powerful fro their cost and can generally win the game by themselves.
      NOTE one of these creatures could be replaced in the main with Grave Titan if that is your preference.
    1. Extirpate + Surgical Extraction + Ravenous Trap + Snapcaster Mage

      This package ensures interaction with the graveyard of the oponent. If only light interaction is needed the Snapcaster Mage can be replaced with Lingering Souls, Life from the Loam or another value card.

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    Record 3-2

    Thoughts: The deck is getting better, this will take awhile due to my usual playstyle as a draw/go or u-tron pilot, but so far I'm having fun with the deck, but at the moment I would probably play u-tron if it were a serious event.

    Match 1 vs Tezzeret Prison 1-2

    Game 1 : I crushed him game 1 by stopping bridge from coming into play while beating down with lingering souls tokens. He set up Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek, but the next turn I Unburial Rites targetting Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

    Game 2-3 : Found out that Witchbane Orb counters Gifts Ungiven, I didnt draw any gas and slowly lost. Was unfortunate since this matchup seemed pretty good Terastodon would have crushed him.

    Match 2 vs Burn 2-0

    Game 1: Removal + hand disruption early set me up to turn 6 Iona, Shield of Emeria. I locked him out of the game at 1 life.

    Game 2: I keep an awesome hand of Fatal Push, Collective Brutality, Lingering Souls, and Gifts Ungiven. I Fatal Push his 1 Goblin Guide, Collective Brutality his Eidolon of the Great Revel while discarding Lingering Souls to also Duress his hand. Turn 3 I play a land tapped and flashback Lingering Souls. Rest of the game is Gifts Ungiven reanimate Iona, Shield of Emeria.

    Match 3 vs Death and Taxes 1-2

    Game 1 : My draw was awful. 1st drawstep Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, 2nd drawstep Iona, Shield of Emeria, 3rd drawstep Unburial Rites, it happens but was unfortunate.

    Game 2: Turn 5 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite = GG Game 3: I misplayed this game, he had Leonin Arbiter and I Gifts Ungiven for Supreme Verdict, Damnation, Wrath of God, and Flooded Strand. I should have taken a shock or basic instead, I he was able to untap his mana for Eldrazi Displacer.

    Match 4 : Bant Pod? 2-1

    This deck was cool, but after three games is still dont know what the blue splash was for. It used Eldritch Evolution with Kitchen Finks Eternal Witness Reveillark and other value creatures.

    Game 1:I wrathed the board on turn 4 and turn 5 he was empty handed. I cast Sigarda, Host of Herons and beat down. Game 2: My hand was too slow , wasnt able to stabilize. Game 3: Sigarda, Host of Herons and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite came into play and with the help of Lingering Souls I was able to over power him.

    Match 4 : RUG Delver 2-0

    Not too much to say, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is quite good vs them.

    Needed Changes: The mana base needs to change some. This deck started out as more of a control shell, but after playing it for the last two weeks it's become apparent that this is not a traditional control deck. I'm looking to add a Thragtusk to the main, but I'm not sure what to cut.

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    Date added 7 years
    Last updated 6 years
    Legality

    This deck is Modern legal.

    Rarity (main - side)

    5 - 1 Mythic Rares

    32 - 8 Rares

    16 - 1 Uncommons

    3 - 5 Commons

    Cards 60
    Avg. CMC 3.00
    Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3-3 G, Spirit 1/1 W
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